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Graduate students are a vulnerable population

This has been the craziest two weeks of graduate school and it all started with a blog post I wrote on Sunday, November 29. It was entitled, “How Leases Trap College Students.” Therein, I talked about my graduate student housing on the University of Iowa campus. When I first arrived, it was $435. But then, a private company, Balfour Beatty, came in and demolished the subsidized housing. They built a lavish, $31 million complex.

Since then, the prices have skyrocketed about 130% since the university – a public institution – sold off the rights to build and manage a property to a private company, Balfour Beatty. Next year’s 1-bedroom leases are now going for $999. You can get better prices in New York City. The company has published all sorts of reasons and information for the prices and increases, but they never talk about the big difference: profit motive. Now, graduate students cannot afford graduate student housing.

How do graduate students contribute on campus?

Graduate students often teach, research, and assist universities. For example, I teach two undergraduate courses, conduct research, provide technical assistance, and work on special projects with faculty in my college. These efforts – for 20 hours per week – allow me to receive a tuition scholarship and stipend. After taxes, that stipend equals about $18,720.

Despite the need for graduate students and an economic engine for doctoral graduates, housing them doesn’t tend to be a moneymaker. With only $18,720 per year, they’re limited as to where they can live without taking federal aid (student loans). Most schools have used affordable graduate housing as a benefit for incoming students. Like any incentive package at work, low-cost housing attracts the talented, financially sensible, and respects the dignity of those who contribute to the milieu.

How much money can you make from grad students?

While the University of Iowa certainly has a drive for income, profiting off of graduate students isn’t the purpose. When they managed their own properties, they made enough to maintain the property. With this private company on campus, the paradigm has shifted. The profit motive was back with a vengeance.

This move towards privatization on college campuses is little highlighted or understood. Frankly, I don’t know anyone who’s talking about it – or knows about it. But the reality is that more and more public institutions are deciding to parcel out their public resources – taxpayer funded – to an elite group of market barons.

Today, I wanted to take an opportunity to break down this problem and explain how students are financially affected by privatization using Balfour Beatty. Over the next decades, if universities continue to embrace privatization, students will be holding record levels of debt. For graduate students, it all starts with their rent/housing.

Lease public resources, make it someone else’s problem profit

Unfortunately for universities, graduate student housing isn’t a moneymaker. They are hard to maintain, keep risk on the table, and place debt liability in the hands of administrators. On campuses nationwide, universities are beginning to “lease” their land to private companies, as they cannot sell public resources. These leases can be signed for decades and lead to magnificent profits for companies involved.

When a private company comes in to build new residences, building, etc. on public universities, the two organizations are signing what’s called a public-private partnership. I’m getting sort of wonky today, so bear with me. A public-private partnership is when a “private party provides a public service or project and assumes substantial financial, technical and operational risk in the project.”

Effectively, public universities who embrace this model are offsetting their risk onto a private partner. They can suddenly fire handfuls of expensive employees who provide public services. These employees ordinarily require pensions and other retirement benefits, quality healthcare, and reasonable paychecks. The replacement is simple: smaller staffs, fewer benefits, and pay cuts. It’s all for one goal: maximize profits for a select few and pillage the fixed-income graduate students.

Administrators love public-private partnerships!

Many administrators say that graduate student housing isn’t a core mission, but undergraduate housing is a core mission because universities make boatloads of profits off undergrads. Here’s a University of Iowa administrator excitedly explaining how university-managed residence halls make sense (but not graduate student housing?):

“Stange said the Petersen Residence Hall, a $53 million, 10-story building under construction and scheduled to open in time for the fall 2015 semester, will house about 500 first- and second-year undergraduates.” (source)

Despite 90% occupancy rates and a population in need (many of which were people of color, international students, young families, and people with disabilities) in old, university-controlled graduate student housing, administrators decide to spin the story:

“Hawkeye Court is at the end of its useful life,” Stange said. “They were well-maintained as best as they could. They just were not meeting needs of our current population.” (source)

Worsening the problem is the added classism and gentrification risk to these privately constructed and managed apartments. Poor people need not apply:

These buildings are intended to create “an exclusive community designed to meet the lifestyle needs of today’s student.” (source)

Calling attention to the pillaging of graduate students

For a 1-bedroom at the “exclusive” Aspire at West Campus at the University of Iowa — remember, intended for graduate students — you’ll spend $1,000 per month. Over the course of a 5-year Ph.D. (some take longer), you’d be spending around $60,000 on rent along — if prices stayed consistent. Again, that’s a generously low total.

With my graduate student stipend of $18,720 per year, I’d be spending 64% of my income on rent alone. That’s why I’ve decided to move out for the coming year. But the gentrification and heartbreak to those looking for affordable housing has been finished. The University of Iowa signed a bad deal with no deal to renegotiate. Heck, administrators didn’t even know how much the private company would charge for rent!

Now, graduate students are stuck with bill or forced to get out. That’s just not right. The university messed up.

Spreading alarm and stirring up media attention

Four days ago, when a group of us affected students began emailing and contacting administrators to tell them they have a major problem on their hands, they told us to go away. They told us it wasn’t the university’s problem; in fact, we needed to bring our concerns to the private company, Balfour Beatty. Here’s what one administrator said:

“I can sit down with [the students], but the strongest voice will come from the people who will or won’t rent from [Balfour Beatty] based on rates.”

What that administrator seems to be implying is that he would sit down with us, but we might as well talk to the company. Picture that: a bunch of students marching into a multinational company trying to negotiate. That’s ridiculous.

Well, we weren’t particularly happy with that answer. So, we kept writing statements to politicians, lawyers, administrators, the president’s office, media outlets. In three days, we had three front page stories in three separate newspapers.

Suddenly, the University of Iowa administration had a PR disaster on their hands. And magically, that tone of changed among admin/staff at the highest echelons of the university. Now, the president wanted to meet with us because he cared about this issue. My how they reversed their tone rapidly!

But taking it from PR nightmare to significant change is a different story. While the administration debates their next actions, this story has massive implications.

When prices skyrocket, that means students with disabilities must bear the costs. When young families with children feel the cost, they must move further from campus. When international students trust the university’s marketing of this on-campus housing, they find an awful price and unmanageable lease.

Balfour Beatty has a reputation for profit over people

The company’s buildings have gone viral — trumpeting their privately constructed and managed properties across the country. Just look at where they’ve gone beyond Iowa:

University of Houston-Victoria

University of Nevada-Reno

Georgia State

Temple University

George Mason University

Texas A&M

UNC-Charlotte

University of Sussex

Tarleton State University

San Diego State University

Florida Atlantic University

Winston-Salem State University

Appalachian State University

University of South Florida-Tampa

Cornish College of the Arts

University of California Riverside

George Mason University

University of Texas-Dallas

Every place they go, an area is gentrified, low-income students are forced out and a community is transformed. When the profit motive takes over non-profit campuses, the results can be harrowing. In fact, students at the University of Nevada, Reno tried to rebel against Balfour Beatty once before, but the company wasn’t willing to renegotiate. The solutions are murky once a contract is signed, too. Only one thing can be done: universities must resist the drive to privatize public resources and everyone should know that market barons like Balfour Beatty don’t represent students’ interests — they represent their own.

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How does your dollar in Colorado equal another in South Carolina? Will your dollar always be a dollar? What does a dollar equal in Russia? What will that dollar afford you in one place, but not another?

These questions are at the center of something called “purchasing power parity” or PPP. This theory allows economists to compare different currencies, along with changing relative costs. Your dollar tends to go further in more economically disenfranchised countries, and shorter in the higher economic zones. To put it simply, prepare for a tiny dollar in Europe, and a hefty one in sub-Saharan Africa.

With this statistic, we can actually understand purchasing power. Whenever we change locations, our power changes. Our relative expenditures fluctuate in tow. Sometimes it’s in our favor – other times we aren’t so lucky.

Purchasing power emphasizes the potential of a dollar spent, but what about a dollar earned?

Let me explain.

In 2015, the average American college student will graduate with more than $35,000 in loans. A horrific 71% of students will graduate with loans, too. These statistics are just the beginning for many hopeful grads.

Bankers and shockingly, the federal government, line up their coffers and wait for that beautiful “cha-ching” sound. Those students will pay for years; heck, likely decades. The interest-bearing loans will build more and more debt over time. And if they pursue a higher education – say a masters, Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. – it’ll mean thousands more.

Here’s an example: pretend “Benny” goes to undergrad for four years, and graduates with $35,000 in debt. He was a good student – some even called him great. His grades were strong, and he decided to apply to counseling psychology Ph.D. programs. Benny researched all the ins and outs about psychology. He decided that it was right for him. Benny would be able to study topics that interest him, practice counseling, and develop a teaching ability. It seemed like a win-win-win.

Years go by, and Benny has been going further into debt. By now, four years into his Ph.D. program, he has about $150,000 in student loans. But Benny has also settled on what he wants to do: practice counseling psychology as a clinician.

This much in the hole, the world appears rather bleak. But for Benny, he self-soothes by calmly reciting, “This is an investment in my future.” At least, that’s what everyone keeps telling him.

Then, he graduates and steps out into the bustling world of career opportunities! Solid five-figure salaries shine, and he gets ready to start a new future, pay off his debt, and maybe buy a new car. He finds a starting counselor position at $55,000 a year and gets the job. Now, he thinks, the good life can begin.

Remember how I started talking about PPP? Well, there’s a parallel version for income, too. I’ve never read it anywhere, though. I’ll call it “income power parity” or IPP.

IPP would represent the relative value of a salary, when you account for student debt, car loans, and other regular financial obligations. For Benny, his $55,000 salary hardly equals $55,000. Between paying the tax man, loans (car and student debt), and potentially starting a new family, buying a house, etc., his money dwindles.

It will take years to pay off these atmospheric amounts of debt. And every day that goes by, the interest ticks on. More money will be owed and/or paid off over time.

Here’s where income parity comes into play. Benny is a counselor, getting paid an average starting salary for someone with his education. If he had gone a different route and become a social worker, he would’ve graduated faster; thus, lowering his amount of possible debt. While the average salary for a social worker is less than a counseling psychologist, would it have been worth it for Benny to choose this route instead?

Effectively, social workers and counseling psychologists (clinicians) do the same work. One gets paid less than the other. But if one has to collect more debt than the other in the educational process, who actually gets paid more? Who can save, invest, and collect more than the other in the long run?

These questions get at the heart of income parity concerns. With more than a trillion dollars in total debt, students are burdened with one of the toughest economic questions ever. They need to stare at salaries and ask, like no generation before them, “Yeah but, how much am I really going to make?”

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Imagine walking down a busy street. You see people you’ve never met hustle to and fro. They’re going to work, school, and social gatherings. Some faces are smiling; others, not so much. You don’t know them and they don’t know you.

Now, imagine seeing digits carefully placed above their heads. When you look at these digits you judge someone beyond their race, ethnicity, age, gender, potential sexual identification. These numbers allow you to see someone’s annual income, and even their net worth. Suddenly, that man with ripped jeans looks a lot more impressive with a staggering 7 digits above his head, doesn’t he? Or, how about the mother with two kids followed along by a 4-digit number?

Would you worry more? Would you care more? How would you evaluate disparities?

Traditionally, annual incomes are closely guarded secrets. Nobody knows what their neighbors make most of the time. Unless you work for a public, governmental organization that requires public disclosures, annual income is between you and your employer.

Even more difficult to ascertain is net worth. As a total of all assets — liquid and non-liquid — it can be challenging to calculate. Net worth represents a total wealth after taxes that’s yours to keep and grow and spend as you see fit.

Aside from the aforementioned exception for public employees, income and net worth tend to stay private. Broaching the subject in certain company can seem gruff, rude, or downright hostile. To talk about these numbers is to admit something… personal.

It’s as if net worth represents our worth.

If you were to ask your neighbors what their incomes and net worth was, how might they react? How about your friends? How about your acquaintances? And perhaps most tellingly, how would your parents react?

Likely, there would be some awkward reactions, defensiveness, shame, and dread about talking in depth about digits. Those in poverty might exhibit the same emotions as those who are wealthy. Talking about money management and worth are inexplicably tied to self-worth and self-identity.

The consequences of this hush-hush mentality have been grave. To publicly acknowledge may seem novel, but silence harbors injustices and prejudices. And that’s why we must throw open the door to personal vaults and share.

Take the gender gap injustice: women make 77 cents for every $1 men make. There’s nothing fair about it. If we treated, understood, and respected women as equals, this pay gap wouldn’t exist. Women also deserve paid maternity leave, child care assistance, and flexible health insurance options should they be single parents. Each of these failures in assistance perpetuate gender inequities.

Another population that suffers greatly for economic privacy are African Americans. In 2011, black workers made an average (median) household income of $39,760. Whites took home a staggering $67,175 in comparison. Racial inequality has been around for hundreds of years, but that doesn’t mean we should accept this status quo. Again, various factors hold African Americans back: high policing in black neighborhoods, judicial policies that prejudicially penalize non-violent drug offenders, and poorer educational opportunities in predominantly minority communities.

Between communities, tremendous per capita incomes exist. You can be born and stay in poverty — all as a consequence of your birthplace. In Washington, D.C., the average per capita income is $45,290. But in poverty stricken post-boom-and-bust Gary, Indiana, each resident makes an average $15,764. While these average incomes help show broader income inequality, they’re depersonalized. You can’t see the individual and how that one person must live.

Annual income and net worth become two of the best measurements for the consequences of these hurtful, unequal policies. By failing to openly discuss these issues, we fail every disadvantaged group.

By opening up our wallets for analysis, we may squirm and squeal. It’s uncomfortable to admit our total salary and savings because we think it says something about who we are; frankly, it does. But there’s a chance that if we admit our incomes and net worth, we’re providing those looking for equality an opportunity to stake their claim.

Oh, lest some commenter call me a hypocrite, I make about $20,000 per year.

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Every week I like to feature a few frugal articles that caught my eyes. Curl up in your favorite reading nook and enjoy. Hopefully these encourage you to live frugal lives!

Where the poor and rich really spend their money by Max Ehrenfreund
As the gap in income and wealth widens between the rich and poor, clear patterns in spending behaviors have emerged. Noticeably, the poor are far more likely to spend income on housing as a percentage, when compared to middle and higher income groups. The effects on eating habits can also be massive, as “the poor and the middle class all spend about 19 percent their grocery budget on fruits and vegetables, about 22 percent on meats, and about 13 percent on breads and cereals.”

Gravity Payments CEO Will Live on $70,000 Worker Wage, Thinks His Life Will Be Luxe Enough by Susanna Kim
Dan Price isn’t like many CEOs. His internal compass seems to point him towards spending, owning, and making less money. Despite being the CEO of a successful credit processing company, he decided to take a large salary cut to model strong leadership. Price makes it clear that he doesn’t want overpaid CEOs to take his place someday, while jeopardizing regular employee’s positions. What a model for the entire corporate sector.

ALDI Is A Growing Menace To America’s Grocery Retailers by The Hartman Group
ALDI’s stores serve a different clientele and follow a unique business model. The market places food palettes in the center or aisles, they don’t usually take credit transactions, and often have only one brand to choose from. ALDI’s is also the parent company for Trader Joe’s. All of these factors combine into healthy savings for shoppers.

How to plan for retirement by Joshua Fields Millburn
Joshua tackles an important money issue for many: saving enough for retirement. He takes all his experience with simplicity and minimalism, and bundles it into a helpful guide for the masses. The important variable that he doesn’t acknowledge, unfortunately, is that how-to guides don’t apply to everyone. Retirement savings can frequently be a luxury in a world bogged down by student loan debt. Either way, Joshua offers some sound tips for starting your nest egg!